Drug dealer Wajid Hussain has been jailed after police found heroin with a value of up to £30,000 in his kitchen.

Officers discovered the stash in a cupboard when they carried out a raid at his Longton home.

Hussain claimed he had been storing the drugs for a dealer as a one-off, to pay off a drug debt.

But after hearing evidence from the 28-year-old, a judge at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court ruled this was not true, and found Hussain had played a 'significant role' in supplying heroin.

Prosecutor Benjamin Lawrence said police had also recovered scales that contained traces of heroin, a balaclava and gloves, plastic bags, along with foil and clingfilm from the raid, which took place on August 19 last year.

He said: "Officers recovered 230 grams of heroin from the kitchen with a potential street value of £15,500.

"There was also 318 grams of adulterant which is used to bulk out the drugs, meaning the total street value could have been double that."

The court heard £2,425 in cash was found in a shoe box at the property in Cliveden Place.

Hussain pleaded guilty to possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply. The court heard he had been sentenced to 40 months in custody after being convicted in 2006 of causing the death of his friend by dangerous driving.

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Recorder Andrew Easteal sentenced Hussain to three years and seven months in prison. He said: "In my judgement Mr Hussain's role was certainly greater than he purported in his evidence. I find his role was a significant one."

He told Hussain: "This was being conducted from your home while your wife was pregnant. You gave your wife and unborn child scant regard.